In Name Only
by DoubleL27
Summary: It would be one of the greatest scandals to rock the wizarding world during the Great War. Twenty young witches disappeared, all pureblood, with the Dark Mark left flying over their homes.
1. Chapter 1

It would be one of the greatest scandals to rock the wizarding world during the Great War. Twenty young witches disappeared. They were taken in the middle of the night, stolen from their homes. How the wards had been bypassed, the Ministry would wonder for quite some time. They were all young single women, barely out of school, working hard for the side of light. All of them pureblooded.  
  
By the time the women awoke the next night they had been missing for twenty four hours, their families frantic, and the Ministry scrambling to explain how such a thing could happen, or why. The major papers, The Daily Prophet and the "rag" The Quibbler, were plastered with the faces of the young women who had disappeared and theories as to why they had gone.  
  
The only defining sign that something truly sinister had happened were the Dark Marks that had been spotted floating above the women's places of residence before they disappeared.  
  
~*~  
  
Ginny Weasley shifted in her sleep and moved to pull up her blankets, it had somehow become drafty in her room. But there were no sheets, and she wasn't in her bed. She was on a stone floor, in what looked to be a dark cellar. There was a tiny, barred window above her, and pale light barely filtered in.  
  
She moved to sit up, in hopes of getting a better look around and instantly her head began to ache. "Ooh." She lifted her hand to her head to try and dispel some of the ache. "Where the--"  
  
"Ginny?" another voice asked, cutting her off mid-sentence.  
  
She turned her head towards the sound of the voice recognizing it. "Susan?"  
  
A shadowy figure came out of the dark to crouch down beside her. "Are you alright?"  
  
"My head is killing me." A gust of cold air swept through the room, causing Ginny to shiver and pull her small nightshift tighter around her small frame. "Where are we?"  
  
Susan had taken a place beside her, and had her arms wrapped tightly around herself as well. "Wherever we are," she said softly, in a tone that made Ginny think she had been up thinking of it for awhile, "it's not good."  
  
Her eyes finally having adjusted, Ginny took a moment to look around the room. Other women were laying on the floor, several of which the two recognized from school. One of the Patil twins was huddled in the corner, there were more girls that had been older than she had, and were no more than barely recognizable faces.  
  
Ginny turned back to regard the one person in the room she knew relatively well. She and Susan had been minor acquaintances in school, getting to know each other better through D.A. Now, after they had left school, both of them were working towards becoming full-time healers, and working part time under a full-healer to take care of Order members.  
  
Suddenly the door opened and a being in a long black robe and a white mask filled up the doorway, the torch in his hand lighting him to be as eerie as her brother's often looked when telling horror stories with a lighted wand.  
  
The head turned, surveying the girls in there. "Those two," his voice echoed, so loud in such a quiet space. It took Ginny a full thirty seconds to realize that he had pointed in her direction.  
  
Two men came out from behind the first, or at least Ginny assumed that they were men, the white masks made it hard to tell. A pair of cold, gloved hands dug into her arms as the man forced her to stand, dragging her to her feet. She looked at Susan, who had been treated just as roughly. Susan sent her a sympathetic smile, or what Ginny assumed was supposed to be one.  
  
They were in one of the mysterious Death Eater lairs. If only she could get out and find her way back home. If she could, Ginny would give the Order some much needed information. If only she could think of a way to get out. Hopefully she wasn't being lead to her death.  
  
They continued through a twisting mess of corridors, passing locked doors and odd statues. There were no portraits here, no paintings, nothing but dark and gray stone. Finally they were lead through an archway into a huge stone room. The men stopped in the middle, keeping their hands tight on the girls. Ginny had the urge to struggle free but then she looked up and noticed that the room was filled with others all in black robes with white masks.  
  
The man who had picked them out took out a piece of parchment from his robe, and stepped forward. "Two healer trainees," his voice echoed throughout the hall. "First, Virgina Weasley, youngest child of Molly and Arthur Weasley, nearly 19 years of age, pureblood pedigree, two years left for completion of training. Second, Susan Bones, middle child, eldest daughter of Emiline and Jack Bones, nearly 20 years of age, pureblood pedigree, one year left until completion of training."  
  
Out of the see of sameness, a hand raised, and a vaguely familiar voice echoed through the room, "I'll take Bones."  
  
She noticed that Susan had gone dreadfully pale as she was dragged across the floor to the man who had claimed her, but Ginny really couldn't blame her. She had just been sold to a Death Eater for who knew what purpose. And now she was going to be next.  
  
"And the Weasley?" the Death Eater asked once more, nearly snarling as he said her name. She had a great urge to kick him. "Anyone?"  
  
Silence prevailed through the hall. Ginny didn't know whether to be ashamed, glad or frightened. She was pretty, and she was talented, and they should want her for whatever it was they wanted, Weasley or not. Ginny knew that she didn't want to have anything to do with whatever it was, she just hoped not getting picked would save her.  
  
A small man in the front spoke up, "Someone has to take her," he said, in a whiny voice.  
  
One of the masked creatures stepped forward, with a bearing of royalty. "I will," his voice echoed, half sneer, half amusement. And Ginny knew whose voice it was.  
  
She had just been given away to Draco Malfoy, the only Death Eater willing to take her.  
  
~*~  
  
She had known that voice, known it all too well. The familiar sound of it in her ears had come back to her. He hadn't looked at her since she had been dragged to him, but his hand was like a vice on hers. Susan was dying to drag him into a corner and question him about why this was going on. What they were about to do and when she could go home. Although she doubted that any of the answers would satisfy her.  
  
He finally came to a stop at a door with another Death Eater standing guard in front of it. Blaise leaned in to whisper a few words to the Death Eater, and then he turned to her for the first time in what seemed like ages.  
  
"Go in there and get dressed," he instructed, his voice short and terse, as if he had never known her. As if they had never been more than acquaintances that had passed through the hallways of school. "I'll be back for you in a few minutes."  
  
"But what--"  
  
His hand tightened on her arm. "We'll talk about this later." He pushed her into the room, and she spun to look at him, the white mask still covered his face. "Twenty minutes Susan, don't keep me waiting."  
  
There was a beautiful dress robe hanging in the corner, and Susan got a sinking feeling in her stomach. The dress seemed to be familiar, like one she had bookmarked in a catalogue, and it was a sapphire color, that nearly matched her eyes exactly. It reminded her of a dress robe that she had seen in a shop in Hogsmeade, back when...  
  
But that had been ages ago.  
  
"Are you decent?"  
  
She opened the door and saw Blaise in a pair of dress robes, different from the ones she remembered him having at school but a similar color. His mask was gone, leaving his face exposed. Susan wondered why his handsomeness took her off guard. Why would she have thought that he would have aged faster or become suddenly ugly because he chose the side he did.  
  
There was a ghost of a smile as his gaze flitted over her body. She wanted to blush and smile back, but she wasn't seventeen any longer, and she wasn't still in love with him, she wasn't. And it wasn't like he loved her back.  
  
He offered her a hand but she ignored it. She wasn't going anywhere until she got answers. "What is going on?"  
  
"We're getting married."  
  
Susan took a few steps away from him. "I am not getting married to you or anyone else."  
  
"Then they'll assign you to someone else or kill you. You have no other options."  
  
"Fine."  
  
The walked down the hallway in silence. Susan watched out of the corner of her eye as Blaise's hand hovered, as if he wanted to touch her but wasn't sure how. She wondered if she would be able to hit him without anyone noticing if they did.  
  
He finally did touch her as he guided her into a room with a Death Eater at the front of it. A few others lined the sides, she supposed as witnesses. All of them had the same uniform of black robes and white masks, and Susan worked to suppress the shudder. They walked up to the front of the room and stopped in front of the man at the front. He waved his hand for them to turn to one another so that the ritual could begin.  
  
Susan lifted her right hand and Blaise clasped it with his. The words began to seep out of the head Death Eater's mouth, all in Latin. Her father had told her of this more ancient of wedding rituals, often used by the upper class and older wizarding families. Modern times had lead to translating the words and decreasing the magic involved in the ceremony.  
  
It should not have been a shock to her that Death Eaters would follow it the way the marriage ritual had originally been outlined as. She looked up and caught Blaise looking down at her with compassionate brown eyes. Susan couldn't bring herself to look away.  
  
One of the Death Eater's from the side stepped forward, a large piece of silver silk in his hands. He wrapped it twice around their joined hands. The head Death Eater in charge of the ceremony waived his wand over the covered hands, murmuring in Latin. With one last flick of his wrist, Susan felt a jolt go through her.  
  
The cloth was taken away from their hands and it was folded on the alter a few feet away from them. She could just see it out of the corner of her eye and watched as two gold bands were placed on the cloth and the silver cloth was folded around it. More words were murmured and the helper Death Eater picked up the folded over cloth and carried it over to the side of where Susan and Blaise were standing, hands joined.  
  
Another stepped forward and unfolded the cloth revealing the two rings, they glowed on the cloth, and Susan wondered if it was the contrast between the gold and silver, or if it was the magic infused into the rings.  
  
Blaise reached out and picked up one of the simple gold bands with his left hand. In accordance, she lifted her left hand and allowed him to slip the ring over her fourth finger. He lifted her hand to his lips and murmured amor as he kissed the band.  
  
Susan lifted the larger ring with her left hand, her ring finger now humming and warm. With shaking fingers she managed to thread the ring onto Blaise's finger. She lifted his heavy hand up higher and kissed the band on his hand. With her trembling lips she managed to spit out the word amor unable to let him do it and to have her fail.  
  
They repositioned their left hands  
  
~*~  
  
She hoped that she had been imagining things, that this was all a dream. She wasn't really married to Draco Malfoy of the ever infamous Malfoy family. She was going to wake up in her warm bed, with Ron standing over her asking why she hadn't reported to headquarters that morning. Yes, he'd look rightly furious, apologize for not shielding her from Harry's relationship with Luna, even if she was over Harry. He would then tell her about how Hermione was worried about her, and how much it would help him if she would try and smile more.  
  
But Ginny suspected that the large silver band that now weighed heavily on her finger couldn't be imagined. If she had made up a wedding ring from a Malfoy she would have expected something creepy like serpents twisted together, some sinister insignia, or something like that. Instead it was a simple silver band, although Draco had told her it was platinum, with one emerald in the middle and two diamonds on either side. It was such a simple ring, almost understated from a man she had always seen as showy. There was no arrogance in this ring, just elegance.  
  
It was still warm against her finger, and it hummed slightly. She was permanently bound to the man standing beside her, dragging her through the catacombs of the dark and dreary building they were in.  
  
The equally unhappy look on Malfoy's face had her believing that it wasn't a dream either. If it had been a nightmare, he would be torturing her or acting like he loved her. Instead Draco looked completely and totally somber.  
  
He took out an old, ornate key out of his robes and slipped it into a lock in one of the doors that lined the wall. He silently opened the door and surprisingly gently lead her inside. The front room had a couch and table, a desk. It was all incredibly dreary to Ginny and she felt just as trapped as she had in the dungeon a couple hours ago.  
  
"These are our chambers," he said softly as he close the door behind him.  
  
She spun around to look at the man who she had almost forgotten about. "Our?"  
  
The familiar smirk that she knew all too well returned to his face. "We were just married Virginia, keep up."  
  
"I know, I just... Go away," she instructed as she stalked off towards the back room, the bedroom.  
  
"Of course," he murmured, following behind her and picking up a white mask off of a table. "Things are not always as they appear."  
  
She spun around furious. "I am a Death Eater's wife."  
  
"And there must be nothing worse for you. I have sent a letter to your family informing them of our nuptials. You may return a letter, if you wish, but please keep the contact as infrequent as possible, preferably cutting it off after your letter. I do not want to have to come looking for you."  
  
Ginny had known she was to have little contact with her family, but the knowledge that she had one last time to speak to her family wrenched her heart out. She would be stuck in these dreary rooms for however long it was until she would be free of this man.  
  
She walked to a small window. "I am to have nothing then?" she asked, as she looked out over the bleak landscape. She couldn't identify where she was.  
  
"You have this room, your studies, me, and your little friend there, Susan was it?"  
  
"I am a prisoner."  
  
He closed the distance between them and grasped her chin with his thin, graceful fingers. "You are my wife. Remember that."  
  
"It's the same thing."  
  
"No," he said softly, "it's not. You'll understand eventually."  
  
"Get out! Just go!"  
  
He walked to the doorway between the two rooms. "You're lucky that I have a meeting, but I will return. The point of this union, Virginia, is to bear a child, and they will be checking to see that we are working on it. For both of our sakes, I hope you grow accustomed to the idea before I return."  
  
She waited until she heard the door slam shut before she threw herself on the bed and began to sob. Her life was over. Ginny Weasley was technically dead. She was now Mrs. Malfoy, Virginia. She would bear the Malfoy heir, who would in turn be raised to be a Death Eater like it's father. For the second time in her life, Ginny prayed for death.  
  
~*~  
  
Susan had been wandering around the chambers that her husband, if you could call him that, had shoved her in before disappearing once again. There were improvements she could make, but she could not see them being more than a prison. The door sounded and she turned towards the noise.. "Blaise?"  
  
He placed the white mask on the table, and turned around to grin at her. "Hey there Suzie Q."  
  
She raised her hand to slap him once across the face, but he caught her hand before it got there in a graceful move. "Look Suze," he ground out, and she could tell he was working on holding on to his temper, "you could have been married to any one of those losers that would do anything to you. Be glad I spoke up for you."  
  
"Glad. Glad?" she asked, wrenching herself out of his grasp, and "I'm married to a Death Eater." The pain that had come with his admission that he was going to join Voldemort came back to her and made her want to sob. "You know how many of my family members have been killed by members of this order. How could I possibly be glad?"  
  
His brown eyes were stormy when his gaze clicked with hers. "Not all of us get a choice in where we end up. Someone had to hold a wand to your head to marry me, maybe something similar happened to get this mark on my arm. It wasn't my choice but it had to be done."  
  
"Who threatened you?" she demanded, wondering why she hadn't really thought of it before. Two years ago she had been too furious with Blaise to ask any questions of him. She had just let it go with his betrayal. And he had counted on it. "Damn it Blaise, you should have told me that they were threatening you. I would have--"  
  
"They threatened you." He looked upset with himself, and Susan realized he had never intended to tell her that. His face closed up within an instant. "I did what I had to Susan. Can you just be thankful that you married someone you loved once?"  
  
Susan laid a hand on Blaise's arm, a large part of her wanted to wrap her arms around him, and she really wasn't sure if he would accept it from her now. "You could have told me."  
  
He still wasn't looking at her as he shook his head. "No, I couldn't have."  
  
"It will be alright. You should have told me."  
  
"I couldn't." He pulled himself up to full height once again and appeared to regain his composure. "You will be allowed to finish your training as a healer. You're close to your certification I have heard. Top of your class?"  
  
She smiled at the realization that he had known what she was up to. "Yes. I am grateful for the chance to finish my training. And glad that its you. I would not have been so rude earlier unless I was comfortable."  
  
"I know. For what its worth Susan, I see this as a blessing. No harm will come to you, I promise you that."  
  
"And my family?" she asked, knowing it was a foolish question, but she couldn't seem to stop it.  
  
His brown eyes were troubled when he looked at her again. "It won't be my wand or a team with me in it."  
  
"You're not coming to bed?"  
  
"I have one last meeting. I will be back shortly. We're going to have to...consummate the relationship..." He winced at the look of horror on Susan's face. "They'll check in the morning."  
  
Her mouth was a small perfectly round circle when she collapsed onto the bed as if it were a chair. "Oh."  
  
Blaise wasn't really looking at her as he picked up his mask and wand off of the desk. "I'll be back. Don't worry."  
  
He gave her a quick kiss and left her sitting alone on the edge of the bed.  
  
Susan stared after him for awhile, before collapsing backwards onto the bed. "I'm only going to lose my virginity to my new husband, who is my ex boyfriend, who I'm still in love with, who forgot a to mention that he was forced into what caused our break up. What is there to be nervous about?" 


	2. Chapter 2

Early morning meetings had had Draco and Blaise up before their wives. They had joined each other for breakfast, taking a chance to catch up with each other on the past week's events. Having someone else in their lives that were dependant on them had taken time away from their usual schedule. While Blaise had seemingly come to a level of understanding with Susan, Draco was struggling with Ginny, currently they were ignoring each other.  
  
"So... Wives," an ever familiar, nearly nasal, female voice interrupted the conversation. Pansy Parkison-Nott slid into a seat at the table and began to fill a plate with food. "It's so hard to see you two with anything of the sort."  
  
Draco nodded to her own ring, sneering at her. "You attached yourself to Nott rather quickly."  
  
"An old man, you two who are like my brothers, or Nott... not a hard choice really." She smiled her nearly predatory smile at the two of them, her fork poised as if to stab something. "So, do I get names? I am assuming I know them."  
  
"You do."  
  
"And?"  
  
"Susan Bones," Blaise said in a clipped tone, not looking up from his breakfast.  
  
"Alright." After giving a nod she turned her gaze to Draco. "And you, Mr. Malfoy?"  
  
Draco lifted his eyes to match hers, wanting to see clearly the unsettled look that would come into her eyes as he said it. "Virginia Weasley."  
  
Pansy's eyes widened and her mouth nearly fell all the way to the table, but she caught it rather admirably and snapped it shut. "A Weasley?" she managed finally.  
  
Draco only let half of his mouth lift in a twitchy smile. "She's Malfoy now. And they have pristine blood I'll have you know, regardless of their lack of blood pride."  
  
"But they're..." Pansy trailed off, out of words to describe the progeny of the largest "blood traitor" family in wizarding England. She lifted her shoulders in a snobbish shrug. "Hopefully something can be done with her. I can try my hardest."  
  
"I doubt she'd accept your help."  
  
"All the more reason to give it."  
  
"Excuse me," Blaise said, quietly putting his fork down beside his plate and standing.  
  
Pansy and Draco's gaze followed their friend across the floor of the dining room to where his wife stood in the doorway, looking for him.  
  
Pansy's smile widened as she watched the way the young couple interacted. Blaise had never been one for sharing secrets with anyone, but there was something in his body language. "He really is smitten," Pansy said turning back to her meal. "Well, I may just like that one after all."  
  
"You're not going to give my wife the same consideration?" Draco asked, with a large amount of fake hurt. He pronounced his pout causing Pansy to roll her eyes. "I'm wounded."  
  
Pansy let out an undignified snort. "She's still a Weasley."  
  
"She is a Malfoy as far as you're concerned."  
  
Watery blue eyes almost sparkled at him out of Pansy's face. "Aren't you protective." It wasn't a question, but a statement. And a smug one at that.  
  
Draco set his jaw and resisted the urge to lose control over his emotions or the situation. "She is my wife for eternity," he stated simply, as if that explained everything. "It is my job to protect her."  
  
Pansy was still looking absolutely delighted by everything and it made Draco want to hit her. "Ah, and the Malfoy sense of duty strikes." She stroked the back of her hand along his chin for a moment before he pulled away. "How charming of you darling."  
  
The sound of a throat clearing luckily saved Draco for whatever it was his old friend was planning on torturing him with next. Blaise had returned to the table with Susan by his side. "Pansy, I'm sure you remember Susan from our days at Hogwarts."  
  
"Yes. It's good to see that he got someone decent. Welcome to our little inner circle as it is," she said, offering her hand to Susan.  
  
Susan looked completely bewildered, and Draco wondered how much they had really alienated the rest of the school. "Thank you," Susan murmured, as she took her seat.  
  
"Ah," Pansy's voice came breaking through again, pointing across the room, "there's yours, are you going to go fetch her?"  
  
Draco followed the line of Pansy's gaze and spotted Ginny. He did not want to get up and go to her. It was one thing to be married to the girl, it was another to associate with her in public. "She'll find her way over here on her own."  
  
He tried to focus on eating his dinner, but Pansy's voice interrupted him. "You might want to protect her from some of the others, she's quite attractive. You wouldn't want anyone dishonoring your wife," she shot at him finally.  
  
Draco forcefully threw his fork down next to his plate. "Fine."  
  
"He's too easy."  
  
"Who is?" a rather gravelly voice came, as a tall, slightly gangly young man stepped up to the table and took the seat next to Pansy.  
  
Pansy turned her icy eyes on her own husband. "Draco. Theodore, you remember Susan Bones..." her mouth curved slightly as Nott nodded, and it made Pansy look nearly predatory. "Blaise married her while we were away."  
  
"Yes," he gave her a smile and a nod, before glancing at Blaise. "Nice choice. Is Draco with Weasley?"  
  
"Mmmmhmm," Pansy answered, playing with her food instead of eating it. "She is a pureblood."  
  
Theodore snorted. "Barely."  
  
Blaise's hand closed over Susan's knowing she was inches away from protesting. "Don't," he whispered, feeling her stiffen under his hand. "Its safer if you let them go."  
  
Working to ignore the other couple, she turned and looked up at her husband. It still seemed so odd to her, that she was married, and to Blaise. After a week of living as husband and wife, in every sense of the word, she would have expected to be adjusted to it all, but then she had also expected to plan her wedding and have her family be there, and to have been with the man before she was married.  
  
She smiled realizing that Blaise would tell her that they had been together before they were married, they'd just taken a break for two years and then jumped right into marriage. It would probably be his way of explaining it to everyone else.  
  
Noticing that he was staring at her intently, she shook herself out of her thoughts. "So, what's on the agenda for today?" She turned back to her breakfast and began to pick at it. "More of me sitting around in the room until I claw my eyes out."  
  
He chuckled lightly at her tone. When would she realize that he was not here to keep her prisoner. "You've actually been granted freedom to join a Medi-witch to complete training."  
  
Blaise's smile deepened as her bright blue eyes lit up with excitement. "Really?" she asked, as if he had given her the best present in the world. He wondered if maybe he had.  
  
"Yes." He rubbed his thumb over the ring he had put on her finger. He hoped that she would come to accept their marriage in her heart and mind.  
  
His mood darkened though, as he thought of where she would be working, and the fact that he couldn't be with her. He squeezed her hand a bit harder this time, to let her know he was giving her serious instructions. "I want you to keep the ring on at all times, and make sure everyone addresses you at Mrs. Zabini. You'll be safer."  
  
"I've dealt with difficult patients before Blaise."  
  
"To them you'll be a pretty girl, and there aren't many of those around. You being my wife should be enough to keep them from trying anything, but if one of them so much as makes a pass at you, you tell me."  
  
His hand was tight around hers, he had been tightening it unconsciously throughout his last bit of instruction. The look in his eyes was so dark and so deadly that for the first time ever Susan was actually afraid of what he would do. "Of course."  
  
"I hate you," Ginny snapped as she and Draco came up to the table.  
  
"Good the feeling is mutual."  
  
"Hello Virginia," Pansy said with a piranha like grin, "so good to see you again."  
  
Ginny tore her eyes away from Draco who she was glaring at to the sound of the voice. Her eyes widened before she collapsed in a chair and covered her face. "I want to die."  
  
"We can have that arranged," Pansy said conversationally.  
  
Draco's previously bored eyes, narrowed and glared at Pansy. "You could try."  
  
"I am officially in hell."  
  
"Well today you get a chance to visit another level of it in working on your training," Draco said mildly, taking a sip of his tea and scowling. "Try not to kill anyone," he muttered as he refilled his cup.  
  
Once again Ginny's brown eyes, turned their fiery gaze on her husband. She hated this, she hated him, she hated the idea that he could be so calm about such a horrible statement.  
  
"Why would I ever think of doing such a thing?" she cried out, her anger only intensifying as he didn't pay any attention to her. "I have a sworn duty to save the lives of those in need. If I'm going to kill anyone it will be someone alive and healthy."  
  
Susan stood biting her lip. "Come on Ginny, let's go get ready." She turned to Blaise. "I'll see you this evening?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Ginny didn't ask a similar question of her husband, and in fact stood and followed Susan out of the dinning hall as quickly as possible. The four friends that they left behind paid little attention  
  
~*~  
  
It was a long day for the two of them. Susan and Ginny were not just worked until they thought their feet might just fall off, but they were also insulted by just about everyone who realized that they were not supporters of the cause. Luckily their last names held a great deal of weight, which also made the two, Ginny especially, uneasy.  
  
"Well, we did good work today, regardless," Susan said, letting out a weary sigh. She worked quickly to put her hair back into some semblance of shape, but one piece kept falling down. "Do you think anyone will mind that we're having dinner here?"  
  
Ginny was looking down at the food she was pushing around on her plate. "It's not like we're all that welcomed in the dining hall."  
  
Susan turned her own gaze towards her plate. "True. So ho have things been for you?"  
  
"Hell. I just..." Ginny trailed off as tears she had been fighting all week began to fall. Not knowing what else to do she just buried her head into her arms.  
  
"Oh Ginny."  
  
When she felt her friend's hand rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort, Ginny worked for some sort of control. "He's Draco Malfoy. And I have to sleep with him, and sleep next to him, and smile and play the dutiful wife." She sniffled as Susan's hand ran over her hair wishing she was stronger. Ginny raised her eyes to Susan's. "How do I forget that he tormented me and my family, that his father nearly killed me, that he's done unspeakable things?"  
  
Susan bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know, I don't know."  
  
Ginny shrugged herself out of Susan's grasp and asked the one thing that she had been curious about since she had first seen Susan with Blaise Zabini. "How do you do it? How do you live with Blaise, sleep with him, without wanting to kill him in his sleep? You of all people..." Ginny trailed off realizing what she said and how awful it was. How could she throw something like the deaths of loved ones in her friend's face. "I didn't mean."  
  
"You did." Susan wondered how she could put into words what she hadn't said aloud to anyone in ages, least of all Blaise. "I love him Ginny."  
  
"After a week of a forced marriage?"  
  
Susan stood and began to pace, looking for the appropriate words to explain something she didn't always understand. "No. I loved him when we were in school, and then he chose this. I didn't know there were other circumstances behind it then." She wondered, as she had been all week, if she had known why he had made the choice then, if she would have chosen to stay with him. "Things aren't always as clear as they appear."  
  
"You sound like Draco."  
  
"Has he hurt you?" Susan asked finally, slightly afraid of the answer.  
  
"No." Ginny let out a mirthless laugh just thinking about the way her "husband" had been treating her. "He's been a perfect gentleman. Well aside from his normal sarcastic, snippy behavior. It's unnerving me."  
  
"Maybe you can trust him."  
  
Ginny shook her head vehemently. "No. No I can't. I need to find a way out of all of this, to find a way home."  
  
"I have a feeling only Harry killing Voldemort is going to get us out of here. We are victims of this war in our own way, but we don't have to let it defeat us."  
  
"Show them our spirit isn't broken?"  
  
"Yes, exactly."  
  
"I think I might have to decorate my chambers, they are mine now after all, perhaps in red and gold."  
  
Susan's smile was one of small triumph. "It would brighten the place considerably."  
  
"That's what I was thinking."  
  
The two of them burst into laughter, somewhere between the image of the room and the look on Draco's face when he spotted them.  
  
Draco found the two of them sitting in the anteroom together, heads bent in conversation, occasionally letting out bursts of laughter. For the first time, Draco admitted to himself that his wife was attractive in quite a few ways. And it wasn't strange, to find a pretty girl attractive, not in the slightest.  
  
He had to talk with her though, and so he cleared his throat rather loudly to alert the two women in the room. Both looked up at him, and the laughter stopped immediately. Susan's head dropped away slightly, and the light slipped away from Ginny's eyes, leaving her looking at him with cold brown eyes.  
  
"I need to have a talk with my wife, Mrs. Zabini, and I do believe your husband has wondered where you have disappeared to. If you wouldn't mind," he murmured, gesturing towards the door.  
  
"Not at all." Susan gave Draco a polite nod before she turned a smile on Ginny. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
Susan sent Ginny a comforting smile before slipping out of the door and down the hallway.  
  
Ginny didn't look at Draco after Susan left. She actually wanted to see how long it would take for him to address her properly. After awhile the silence was beginning to grate on her. She could withstand his silence, she could.  
  
Alright, maybe she couldn't. "You wanted to talk to me?" she asked in curt tones, still refusing to look at him.  
  
"My parents will be arriving tomorrow and they wish to meet my wife."  
  
That got her to look up at him. "Your... your parents?" The idea of having to come face to face with the Malfoys here on Voldemort's territory was terrifying. There were few people she was willing to admit to being afraid of, but Lucius Malfoy and his wife were two people who definitely made her nervous.  
  
The look of scorn on his face was one that took her away from fear and had her wanting to spit at him. "Yes Virginia, my parents. They will be coming from the holdings in France they have taken to after my father's imprisonment. They want very much to meet you."  
  
"I highly doubt that."  
  
"Why?"  
  
It was a challenge, and Ginny had no fear of rising to it. Feeling the anger building in her, she stood and began to stalk towards him. "Your father has nearly killed me on two separate occasions. He has absolutely no use for me, and I highly doubt he wants to meet me formally as your wife."  
  
Draco gave her a look of mild annoyance. "You have no real proof that he tried to kill you."  
  
"Beyond being there, I suppose you're right," she snarled at him. "The first decent thing the Ministry did in this whole bloody war was imprison your father."  
  
His hands, which rarely ever touched her, vised down on her arms. "You will not disrespect your new family as such," he growled back. It was the first show of anything but the mask that she had seen in a long while.  
  
His loss of control allowed her to gain some. "I have a family, rest assured they are not a part of it. Family resides on love, trust and honor, three things your family knows nothing about."  
  
"My family knows all about it," he told her, withdrawing into a wall of ice. "Do not pretend you understand me or my family Virginia, because you don't."  
  
Ginny pulled backwards out of his grip and turned her back on him. "Don't you have a meeting of some sort?"  
  
"Yes. The robes you'll need to wear for tomorrow will be hanging from the wardrobe in the morning. I will fetch you at 11 am sharp to see them, be ready," he instructed before he re-secured his mask and slammed the door behind him as he stepped out into the hallway.  
  
~*~  
  
Susan let out a sigh as she opened the door to the chambers she shared with Blaise. She hoped that Ginny would learn to acclimate herself to this situation soon, but knew that there was a good chance it would never happen. Susan was honestly in the best of circumstances, Ginny wasn't so lucky. It had never been a secret at school what Draco Malfoy had thought of the Weasley clan.  
  
"Where have you been?"  
  
"With Ginny, if you're not certain you can ask Draco, he just sent me back here."  
  
"This place isn't a safe place for you to be alone," he said, taking her by the shoulders and causing her to raise her eyes to his. She looked at him with irritation. "I know I sound overprotective when I say that, but its not Susan. The men who live here are ruthless."  
  
Her eyes were questioning when she asked. "Including you?"  
  
Blaise's hands slipped off of her shoulders and he turned and walked away from her. "Sometimes one has to be." He knew his voice sounded harsh, but it had to be. He wasn't an innocent in this mess and she needed to know that.  
  
"Ginny asked me today how I could sleep next to you without killing you," she said softly, causing him to turn back around. Her gaze lifted to his again. "Sometimes I wonder that too."  
  
"Do you wonder, or do you already know the answer?"  
  
She was searching for an appropriate answer that didn't reveal too much when she spotted the parchment folded under one of his arms. "What's that?"  
  
Blaise followed her gaze. "Nothing," he practically snapped, trying to hide it from her view.  
  
It was too late, she spotted words she recognized and she was now desperate to get her hands on the paper he was holding. "That's the Prophet. Please, give it to me."  
  
"Susan."  
  
"If I cannot speak to anyone from home," she said plainly, trying to keep from being overly emotional about this, "let me read about it."  
  
His lips were set in a firm line, but Susan could sense his weakening. "It will only make it worse."  
  
"Please."  
  
The look in his eyes clearly stated that he thought this was a bad idea, but Blaise handed the paper over to her wordlessly. In an act of strength and normalcy that she didn't feel, Susan sat at the desk stiffly to show that she was fine with everything.  
  
Her eyes began scanning the paper, and she could still feel his eyes boring a hole into her. Susan ruffled the paper and focused harder on the paper. The first article concerned the missing girls. She read a bit of it, catching a harsh comment for her aunt, and quickly averted her gaze. She found herself doing that quite a bit as article after article spoke about the war that was plaguing England and had begun sweeping the continent.  
  
Susan could see her brother sitting down to this paper every day. Opening it up and reading the horrors, wondering where she was. Little Matthew coming out and tugging at his sleeves, asking endless questions. Her mother with weepy eyes, missing her, raging at anyone who would listen.  
  
Tears began to unconsciously fall down her face as she lowered the paper to the desk. "Why can't I stay in touch with them?"  
  
"Because they'll find you, and us, and this whole encampment." 'Because this side will kill you and make me watch. They'll destroy your family in ways you can't think of,' he added silently. "More likely than not, most would end up evacuated from here without the Order's knowledge and he would use this place as a trap. It is better for all concerned if you don't."  
  
"I suppose you're right." Susan stood without sparing him a glance, but the sorrow in her eyes got to him all the same. "I've had a long day, I think I'm just going to go to bed now."  
  
"Susan." He reached out for her finally, but she walked past him.  
  
"Good night."  
  
Blaise collapsed into his easy chair and rubbed his hands over his face. She still cared about him, he had to hold on to that. For everything else that went wrong, for the times like this where she walked away from him, he needed to hold on to the fact that she still cared, possibly still loved him.  
  
He would make it up to her one day, he would. One day Susan would understand everything that had happened, and maybe they would find a way to be happy after all. 


End file.
